This marked the seventh time this season that the top-seeded Warriors have amassed more than 80 points in a contest, and two of those occasions came at the eighth-seeded Broncos' expense. In their first meeting, back on Jan. 11 in Central Falls, the Warriors exploded for 56 second-half points and rolled to an 86-58 triumph, and in their Feb. 18 rematch in Burrillville, the Warriors dominated play from start to finish in an 82-42 rout.

The Warriors (19-4) will return to the campus for Thursday night's semifinals back at CCRI-Warwick and take on another team that they took two from during the regular season, fifth-seeded Mount St. Charles, which notched a 74-62 triumph over fourth-seeded Prout in the second duel of the twinbill. But unlike the Broncos, both of the Warriors' victories over the Mounties were edge-of-the-seat thrillers and decided by a total of three points.

Against the Broncos, which fell to 8-15, the Warriors actually fell behind by a 6-2 score in the contest's early stages, but then ran off nine straight points to take the lead for good and force Burrillville coach Tyrone Dale to call one of his several time-outs in the game.

With 8:06 to play in the half, the Warriors extended their lead to 23-11, and they soon led by as many as 19 (34-15) with 4:01 to go.

And the Warriors found every which way to score. They ran the break with authority. They were potent on the offensive glass. And they were lethal from three-point range, nailing eight from beyond the arc (and getting three treys from Alers).

"I thought we did an excellent job shooting the ball," admitted CF coach Brian Crookes, whose crew played minus the services of guard Angel Gonzalez, who sprained his ankle during practice last week and is questionable for Thursday's game. "We went to the rack early and got a lot of open looks and layups, and as the game went on, we started knocking down jumpshots. That's a deadly combination."

The Broncos made a mini comeback in the waning minutes and trimmed their deficit to 13 (36-23) with 2:04 on the clock, but a three-pointer by point guard Henry Goncalves got the Warriors back on track and helped them cruise to a 45-26 command at the break.

In the second half, layups by George Carle and Edwin Rivera in the opening minute got the Warriors off and running, and Alers upped the Warriors' lead to 25 (56-31) with 12 minutes still to play by flipping in a layup off a pass from Carle.

Antonio Mena provided fans with one of the few highlights of the second half when he stole the ball at midcourt, stormed down the court, and threw down a vicious dunk to give the Warriors a 67-39 command with 8:52 on the clock.

"We came out with nothing to lose," admitted Dale. "We knew their best assets were their defense, the steals, and the points they score off turnovers. We turned the ball over 21 times and they scored 33 points off them. They were the better team and the best team usually gets it done."

In addition to the offense the Warriors received from Alers and Pena, they also got double-doubles out of center George Carle, who scored 12 points and led CF on the boards with 11 rebounds, and Goncalves, who tossed in 11 points and handed out 10 assists.

Tayreese Montgomery and Mena also came off the bench to add eight points, and Keith Brown and Mena also shined on the boards with nine rebounds each. Montgomery hurt his knee in the final minutes of the game and needed to be assisted off the court, and his return for Thursday's game is also up in the air.

While Crookes was happy with the victory and the play of his bench, he was especially pleased with his Warriors' defensive performance, which forced the Broncos to turn the ball over 21 times, 12 in the opening half.

"I was happy with our defensive effort tonight," admitted Crookes, whose squad had just 12 turnovers, three coming in the final minutes of the game by his second unit. "I thought the pressure that we provided kept the pace the way we wanted it.

The Broncos had three players score in double figures, guided by senior sharpshooter Kyle Van Rossum, who missed the last four games due to an illness, but came back to nail four three-pointers and score 15 points.

Six-foot-seven center Jeff Schmeltz added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Brendan Darigan added 10.

"I give a lot of credit to their team," offered Crookes. "They played hard, and you have to credit Van Rossum. He's been sick and out for three weeks, and even though he wasn't at 100 percent, the kid came out tonight and gave it everything. He played a tough game and he was our primary focus."